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A nice small car to drive but there are probably better ones out there if you can afford it

My mother bought this car recently and I also drive it. I was a little unsure at first because we have previously only owned Volkswagen cars and we trust that brand. But when we heard that Skoda use similar parts to that of Volkswagen, we began searching for a Skoda as they tend to be quite a bit cheaper.

Eventually, we settled with this one. When I first saw it, I was surprised at how small it looked as I expected Skoda cars to be slightly bigger because I know Skoda as family cars.

The driving itself is very smooth and it has a nice quiet engine which makes a change. The steering wheel is very light, and in a way, it sometimes feels a little bit too light. For me, it feels as if it's a cheap steering wheel. I am by no means knocking it, I am just finding the best way to describe the feel of it. With most power steering wheels, I can feel it more when I am steering the car. With this one, it's lost.

One thing that I don't think this car is good for is reversing. The rear window doesn't give a wide enough view, which is further blocked by the head restraints of the back seats (which can be removed). But even with the headstraints removed, the back of the car seems to be built in a shape which obstructs a lot of vision and it makes me feel nervous about reversing the car out of a busy or full car park.

The seating in the car is very comfortable. Everything feels sturdy and of a high quality. The head restraints on the rear seats make for a very comfortable back seat passenger experience.

The driver seat feels elevated which I like because it gives a clearer view of the road ahead. You can also adjust the height of the seat which is something that I have not experienced before.

My Skoda Fabia Comfort is a 1.4 with 100bhp. I have noticed that I can leave roundabouts quite quickly, but at high speeds, it seems to lag a bit which is surprising considering it is supposedly 100bhp. Also, turning the air conditioning on seems to reduce the power of the engine. Not good for sunny days.

But it is a fuel efficient car and I find that petrol does not get drained as quickly as it does in other cars.

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I'd been using a Peugeot 205 GR for the past 5 years. This was bought from my neighbour who had it from new. I do around 20K miles pa. I knew that I would need to replace the car soon because of it's age (16 years old) and as I depend on the vehicle for getting to and from work anything else had to be at least as frugal (the 205 returned 50+ mpg - petrol) and reliable (I always had the 205 serviced regularly by a Peugeot dealer). I did my research and narrowed my list down to the diesel variants of Fiat Punto, Seat Ebiza, VW Polo & Skoda Fabia. The Fabia was 1st on my list because of selling price. I also didn't want to buy new because of the first year depreciation and wanted someone else to bear the initial teething problems. Having had a test drive with all of these models I settled on the Fabia. I just thought it was the best all round value for money of the four. I went to my local dealer and told them what I wanted and about 5/6 weeks after that found the car I now drive - which I've had for about two months. I get around 65 mpg and on a long run around 70. The only things to go wrong have been fog light bulb failure, wiper fuse failure (apparently the factory fits a 5 amp fuse which blows at the slightest resistance like in cold weather) and windscreen washer bottle connections coming adrift, all of which have been fixed in minutes and at no charge by my local dealer. So far my only critiques are an overly complicated radio and the fact that you can't lock the car from the hatch door. For me this car is the perfect buy.